Earth-anchor.



J. BLAGKBURN.

EARTH ANCHOR. APPLICATION FILED MARA, 1911.

1,041,233; Patented 001. 15,1912.

l 11m/ll l "Eli man ,lul

All" l Iilllllllu l' TED 'dddyldd ktdTENT hdddlllt.

JASPER BLACKBURN', GF EIBKWOOID, MISSOURI EARTH-ANCHOR;

actress.

Specification of Letters Patent.

` recemment. 15, 1ere.

Appneatibmea maren 1,1911. 'serial no. 611,731.

To all whom t concern:

ing a part hereof.4 y y a -My inventionA relates to improvements 1n.

earth anchors and-is especiallyV directed to improvements in thatV class' of earthv anchors having a crown, in thek form of a plate, and dukesv supported over the crown and ar; ranged to move laterally relative .each other,

` the object` of iny invention being to generally improvethe construction of' the anchor proper, consistingl of the crown and the dukes, and to construct a novelmeans for t-he lateral movements of the dukes.l With the above purposes in view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction. and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more full described, pointed out in the claims and i lustrated'by the accompanying drawings, in which-1.

Figure. 1 is a plan'of the complete anchor, theshank being'shown in section; Fig'. 2 is an elevation of the complete anchor, the upper end ofthe shank beingbroken'away; Fig.v 3 is a plan ofthe complete anchorwith the dukesshown extended, the shank being shown in section; Fig. 4 'is a transverse, sectional elevation taken on the indicated line 4 4 yof Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an inverted plan of' the spider lforming apart of the duke spreading means and shows a portion onlyr of one of the spreading rods; Fig. 6 is an elevation. ofthe spider and a portion of one of the spreading rods, showing a portion of the 'spider in section; Fig. 7 illus-- trates my improved anchor in al partially spread condition showinga means for con# veniently and rapidly accomplishing the spreading.

Referring by numerals to the accompany ing drawings: 1 designates the crown o1 base plate, the body portion of which is preferably disk-shape and arranged adjacent the margin of the crown 1 are the duke supports and guides 2, 3 and 4.l Centrally disposed relative the crown is an integral post 5 which together with the crown proper is centrally apertured.

6, 7, 8 and 9 designate dukes, the outer margin of each of which is segmental, and each of the dukes is longitudinally slotted on a median line so that ,they may have movements relativethe post 5 and each of vthe dukes at its outer end is reduced in thickness sov that it may be more readily forced into the earth. The duke G, which is the lowermost one, is arranged to slide directlyrupon the upper face of the crown 1, the slotA1 therein permitting its movement `relative the central post and itsrside margins are straight and substantially parallel so that the duke will be guided between the guides 3 and 4. The duke 7 isof substantially the same conformation as the duke 6, above described, and is Varranged forfmovement over the duke 6,V is guided by the guides 3 and 4 andthe post 5, and is arranged to slide. over the support 2, the only function 'of this support 2 -is to cause the duke 7 tobe held in a substantially parallel plane relative the crown, the support 2 bemg of 'a height about equal to the thickness of theduke 6. The post 5 is provided with shoulders 10`which overlie the upperv portionof the duke 7 atY its' ,innerend'so as to guide 'the duke inaA plane parallel with the body of the crown. 'llhe duke 8 at its outer. end is shaped identically like the dukes@ land (bu't its innermost half comprises two spacedlapart and substantially rectangular' 'shaped portions, the slot or space between whlch serves as a 'guide together with lthe post 5 to cause the duke 8 to be moved laterally in la straight line. The guide 3 which serves to engage'the dukes 6 and 7 to cause them together with their slots and the post 5 to be moved in a straight line also acts as a support for the duke 8, the combined guide and support 3 being of a height approximately equal tothe combined thickness of the dukes 6 and 7. rl`he duke 9 generally is of identical construction with the duke 8 and is arranged for movement over the duke 8 and the guide 4, the guide 4 being of a height approximatelyr equal to the thickness of the three dukes 6, 7- and 8. The inner ends of the duke 8, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, arefsubstantially straight so that they will butt against the inner straight face of the guide 4. The inner end of the duke 9 is segmental so as to conform with the crown 1. Carried by the post 5, arranged at right angles to the shoulders 10 and in planes above the shoulders 10 are the shoulders ll which serve to cause the duke 9 to bernoved in afplane substantially paralleldwith the crown, the linke 8 beingI thus guided bythe Formed integral with each ofl thevfiukes and'locate'd on amedian line of the flukey adjacent its periphery is a socket 12each of which is open at its inner end and also open at .its top. 'The outer'end of each of thev socketsis pointed so as to oder as little re `sistance as possible to the movementof'the" socket into thelearth when it 1s desired to per margins of' saidwalls.

15 designates the .shank lof the .anchor which is preferably al cylindrical rod, the

lowermost end of which' lsinserted through 'the post 5 and the crowny 1, andv is'rprovided with'a'nut 16 at its lower end so as to prevent movement of the shank upwardly relative the crown; Embracing the shank 15 isa spider 17 which isprovided with a series rof sockets 18 constructed in a manner similar to the sockets 12.1 The sockets 12 and 18 are connected'hy means of'rods 19, each of-Which is provided at eachof its ends with laterally projecting ribs 20 and l21, the ribs-20` arranged to hold the rods 19 in the sockets 18 and the ribs l21 arranged to hold the rods in the sockets 12. The body portion of each of 'the rods is substan-l v tially oval shape 1n cross section, its dimensions being greatest fromtop to' .bottom and on the side faces of each rod are theintegral strengthening .ribs 22. By this lconstruction the rod has a maximum of strength and is constructed of a -of Imaterial. By reason of the rod being constructed with its greatest dimensions up and downv there is suicient body to .withstand the strains incident to the impacting of they spider 1T, when settingv the anchor, and by reason of .the ribs 22 the rod. is, of suflicient strength to stand torsional strain incident to the-tendency of the entire anchor to 'twist or turn, when being set,` n

As a means for limiting the' outward movement of the iluke 9- so that' it may always .be kept wit-hin the Ab ounds of its guides the fluke 9 is -provided with integral, inclined planes 23 and the shoulder 11 is chamfered at 24 to receive said inclinedplanes. As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4,`

the fluke 9 is extended and the inclined plane is brought to a posit-ion to engage with the chamfered portion'24 of the shoulder 11 and thus prevented from a further outward movement. By reason of all of the fiukes' being iconnected -vwith the rods 19, this inclined -plane -limits the outward movements of all ofthe iukes.

Int-he practical operationof my improved anchor, and as is common with 'anchors of this class, a hole is formed in the earthof a diameter approximating'that of the crown of my 'anchor and the anchor proper, in-

cluding the shank fixed to the crown as de-A scribed, is introduced into -said hole.

V In-orderl to expand the-iukes a tamping instrument `is 'employedaiidl the spider 17 is impacted and, by reason of the connection `between said spider .and the lukes, each fluke i'sl forced outwardly in the Aearth surrounding the hole.

' In Fig.3 the anchor is shown in a fully extended condition. It is to beobserved thatthere isa considerable area vof anchor and that when the device is in this condition the hole is filled up, the earth being t-amped solidly over the anchor.

i One of-the leading and distinctive features of my invention is the means for extending the flukes,v and comprises a spider having arms with" sockets -therein, the vsockets on each fluke and connecting rods having ribs at each of its ends. This means practically forms a connection, between the spider and the fluke's, having ball and socket connections. By means of this connection the spider may be connected with the linkes by simply lplacing the head, at each end of the rod, 1nto the socket, the. ribs on the rod and the ribsformed in the sockets serving to hold the ribs in said sockets. In this manner the rods are connected to said spider and theflukes without the employment of rivets, bolts or other extraneous devices.

While I have shown the anchor equipped with four flukes, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the employment of four linkes only, as it obvious that the anchor may be constructed of two and in some' instances even more than four flukes as desired without departing from the spirit of my invention. v

I claim: i,

1.' In an anchor of the class described, a crown,iukes carried by the crown and arranged for lateral movements 'relative to each other and the crown, combined lguides andl linke supports of varying heights carried by thecrown for directing ythe movements of and supporting said iukes, one of said iiuke's arranged to slide directly upon said crown andthe remainin ukes positioned one above the other an arranged to slide upon each other and said supports.

2. In an anchor of the class described, a substantially disk-shaped crown, a plurality of flukes carried by the crown and arranged for lateral movement relative each other and thecrown, one of said flukes arranged to slide directly upon said crown, the re- 3. In an anchor of the class described, a

crown having a substantially :dat body portion, 'a post, a plurality of superimposedl dukes, one of' which lies directly upon the crown, the remaining dukes arranged to slide over each other, a pair of guides for directing the movementof a pair of said dukes, said guides being of diderent heights and each arranged to support one of the dukes when extended, there being a slot in. the body portion of each duke to embrace said post, a socket carried by each duke, a

shank secured to the crown, a spider having a number of sockets, and a rod, having an enlarged head at each of its ends, -connecting the sockets of the spider and the sockets carried by the dukes.

4. laan anchor of the class described, a crown, a pair of dukes arranged for movement relative each other over said crowna shank secured to the crown, a member having a pair of sockets4 arranged to slide relative the shank, a socket carried by each duke, and a rod, having an enlarged head at each of its ends, connecting each pair of said sockets, said heads being movable lengthwise relative to the sockets.

5.'l'n ananchor of the class described, a crown, a pair of dukes carried by the crown and arranged to be moved laterally relative each other, a shank secured to the crown and projecting through said dukes, a socket carried'by each duke, a member having projecting arms in each of which there is a socket, all of said sockets being open at one end and at their tops, ribs surrounding the open portions of the sockets, a rod, 'having adjacent each of its ends opposing ribs, connecting each pair of sockets, said member 'arranged to be moved relative the shank and in its movement edect a movement of said dukes.

6. In an anchor of the class described, a rod, integral ribs adjacent each end of the rod, the body portion of said rod being substantially oval in cross section, and integral laterally projecting strengthening ribs arranged at a right angle relative the longest diametricalA dimension of the rod.

ln testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JASPER BLACKBURN.

Witnesses:

E. L. WALLACE, N. Gr. BUTLER. 

